


Flower Shop

by nocturnath



Series: Budding, Blossoming, Blooming [2]
Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Co-workers, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, How Do I Tag, Multi, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25244335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nocturnath/pseuds/nocturnath
Summary: and you, my dear florist, will help him bloom✿ a series of unconnected flower related one-shots✿ gender-neutral reader✿ for a writing event i had on my tumblr, currywaifu⤷ latest chapter: usui masumi/reader⤷ premise: basically masumi working up to a confession
Relationships: Hyoudou Juuza/Reader, Minagi Tsuzuru/Reader, Miyoshi Kazunari/Reader, Nanao Taichi/Reader, Settsu Banri/Reader, Tsukioka Tsumugi/Reader, Yukishiro Azuma/Reader
Series: Budding, Blossoming, Blooming [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1828804
Comments: 17
Kudos: 114





	1. azuma | cattleya orchid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> azuma, reader, and their first meeting

You swear you weren’t a stalker. You just saw him around— _frequently—_ for the past two months and a half… not that you were counting, that was purely based on approximation. It probably wasn’t the most appropriate to stare at a stranger, but truly, who could blame you for spacing out during those few seconds he passed by the shop?

You wouldn’t call it a crush by any means, you knew neither his name nor his personality, but it wasn’t very nice to label him as eye-candy either.

Charmed.

That was what you were. Every once in a while he’d slow his tracks, a slight swish to his long hair forever neat and well-kept with its hue not unlike the silvery shimmer and sparkle amongst the white snow, or the silver river in the night sky.

He’d bend down slightly, having a closer look at whatever flower caught his fancy, the smile you never saw him without completing his portrait of elegant allure.

Before you could approach him, if not out of wanting to learn more about him at least to be an engaging shopkeep & florist, he would walk away.

As the beige of his jacket escaped from sight, you snapped out of your daze and looked right back down at the orchid in front of you. Right, you still had some things to do before closing the shop.

Potting the plants wasn’t _exactly_ your specialty, as your co-worker noted “I have a feeling you’d drop the pot on accident~ stick to flower arrangement, okay?”

Still, having watched her do it a few times you figured you’d be able to do one of the nice pot wrappings with the pretty little ribbons tied in a bow.

You laid the film out on the table, before placing the plastic pot in the middle of it. You stared at it for a moment, recalling what to do next. You probably had to fold the sides, but which ones? All together? One at a time?

After some trial and error, you settled on something that looked correct. Great! All you needed was to fix the film height then you could move on to more interesting ventures— namely, actually decorating the pot with ribbons and twine and whatnot. You picked up the scissors, cutting it so that it was just a little taller than the pot itself, and—

“Shit,” you murmured, pausing your actions to turn your finger around. While the cut was barely there, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to just let it be when you worked with multiple thorny plants that could poke it more.

You quickly plastered a band-aid on it, before finishing up the job. Observing your work, the neutral colours of the light brown burlap and the muted yellow ribbon coordinated well with the flower itself. You know what, this wasn’t just not half-bad, this was actually rather pretty!

As the sun began to set, it was time to close up shop and finish today’s duties.

One cattleya orchid, ready for delivery!

* * *

You’ve been to this bakery multiple times before. Never at sundown, but what did it matter when their bread always tasted so delightful?

Would it be _so_ impractical to ask for a bunch of pastries as payment for the flower instead of cash?

As you continued your polite chatter with the baker’s wife, her attention left yours momentarily as the chime twinkled upon the door opening.

“Yukishiro-kun, back so soon?” she asked. Either by curiosity or something else, you turned around to see the man who just entered. Another regular at the bakery? You wouldn’t put it past yourself to forget the name of a past customer too.

Boy, were you glad you put down that flower pot alright.

With all your staring, you accidentally made eye-contact with the silver-haired man you’d been admiring from inside the flower shop for _how_ _long_? Holy shit, he was even more attractive up close? Wait, he was moving closer— oh my god, he’s walking up to greet you, isn’t he?

“Fufu~ I can never resist the confectionaries you and your husband sell,” Yukishiro, as he was called, said, “the manju especially.”

For a moment, you figured you simply overreacted. Right, you were a stranger. Most people wouldn’t just walk up to someone they knew entirely nothing about. That would be kind of weird, wouldn’t—

“… and I didn’t know you had such a pretty younger sibling.”

 _What_.

Wait, _pause_ , rewind.

“Oh, don’t flatter me, now! I’m much too old to be compared to them.” She replied with a laugh, clearly giddy from the flattery.

“The two of you haven’t met before? They work at the flower shop 5 minutes from here,” she explained briefly, before looking back at you thoughtfully, “dear, why don’t you go introduce yourself?”

The sudden call of your name made your shoulders tense up slightly, before turning to face the silver-haired man.

“Fufu~ it’s nice to finally meet the cute florist from the shop,” he said with a smile, his yellow gold eyes gleaming to match, “you can call me Azuma.”

Though his face was nowhere near yours, the soft chuckle the left his system resounded within you. Seriously, he said a total of _one_ sentence to you, compromising of 11 words, and you were already so affected?

Wait… what did he mean by _finally_ meet? Did… did he _know_? All those times you thought you were _oh-so-slick_ when you stared at him? You hoped he was looking at you when you weren’t looking— but wait, wouldn’t that be embarrassing too? You hoped you didn’t look messy, or at least looked like you were hard at work— imagine if he caught you being all clumsy?

With a nudge from the cheeky woman beside you and a knowing cough, you realised he was still waiting for a response and hastily extended your hand out as you introduced yourself to him.

As he grasped your hand in kind, his lips pursed slightly. You suddenly found yourself worrying about your hands— were they too rough? It wasn’t out of the question, when his was silky smooth by comparison.

Gently, his thumb brushed against the spot you put a band-aid on, but his eyes still trained on you.

“You should take better care of these,” he said, “they’re precious after all, aren’t they?”

Maybe it was too soon to call it a crush, but it was undeniable that he charmed you in more ways than one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 【 orchid 】 refinement, beauty  
> 【 cattleya orchid 】 mature charm
> 
> disclaimer: i'm not a flower expert haha, i just enjoy researching stuff about botany especially flowers + reading articles and books about flower language


	2. tsumugi | yellow acacia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tsumugi, reader, and the sudden rain befalling them

“Thank you for offering to walk me home, Tsumugi” you said, walking down the stairs outside of your flower shop. As you reached the final step, you found yourself face to face with the blue-haired man you considered to be your friend.

“It’s been a while since we got to talk, after all,” Tsumugi said, holding his hand out. For a moment you could only stare at it, almost as if it was a foreign object. What… what were you supposed to do with it?

Did… did he want to..?

The hand at your side twitched, subconsciously lifting itself up before his words halted the action.

“I can carry the flowers so you don’t have to carry as much,” he explained, his clear blue eyes thoughtful and kind. Despite not being able to push through with _whatever_ you were going to do, you still felt a little embarrassed.

‘ _Just friends, just friends_ ,’ you chanted in your head. He didn’t need to hold your hand on the walk home or anything, even if you had the tendency to stumble here and there. He was just being the usual Tsumugi, gentle and considerate.

“Thanks,” you replied, handing him the bundle of yellow acacia flowers. As the two of you walked side by side there was a moment of silence. From the corner of your eye, you watched him turn the small bouquet around, the round, yellow, cotton-like flowers shown in numerous angles.

“Huh, acacia flowers?” There was a small smile etched on his lips as he stared at it, and while you agreed that it was pretty you wouldn’t call it unique by any means. “Do you know the meaning of these flowers?”

You hummed in thought, scrunching your face for a hot second before answering with confidence. “True friendship.”

You were certain that despite Tsumugi being an avid fan of gardening, you’d be able to match him when it came to flower language, but by the mischievous twinkle in his eyes you had a feeling there was something you weren’t quite right on.

“Haha, not quite,” he chuckled quietly, his eyes leaving the flowers to look at you instead. “It also means—“

Suddenly, a wet splotch hit your cheek. He must have felt it too with the way he went quiet, looking above to see just how the colourless water droplets painted the clouds grey.

“Tsumugi,” you said, and with a nod in response, the two of you didn’t wait for the rain to pour any harder.

* * *

The two of you panted as soon as you both entered your apartment. As you listened to the pitter-patter by your window gradually increasing in volume, you were glad you somehow escaped with barely wet clothes.

“Didn’t the weather say it wouldn’t rain until tomorrow?” Tsumugi questioned, handing you the flowers as soon you put down your bag.

“Probably? I would have brought an umbrella if I knew…” you said, a little flustered as you took the bouquet back. Somehow, your brain decided to make it look like he was _gifting_ you the flowers rather than, you know, giving back something he just offered to carry for you.

You placed the yellow acacias beside an empty vase, already preparing to put it on display until the sky roared with laughter.

You jumped up, a small noise escaping your lips as your friend looked at you with concern. With no questions asked, he pulled your trembling form away from the window and sat you down on the sofa.

Your eyes followed Tsumugi’s figure, watching him shut the blinds and turn on the lights instead. Going back to you, he grabbed the throw blanket and wrapped it around you gingerly, the warmth it brought beginning to seep into your body temperature.

Looking up, you notice that his smile is soft. It’s a little faint, but it was sweet and angelic enough that for a little bit you could pretend it was the sun peeking from its dove grey canvas.

“Are you okay?” He asked, voice hushed and mellow but somehow it sang louder than the thunderstorm cackling outside. “Do you need me to do anything?”

With a shaky breath, you smiled back at him. “I’m- I’m good for now, I think.”

Eyes looking down fondly at you, he swept a few stray locks of hair away from your face. You stilled, unable yet unwilling to move, expectant of what he would do. As if in a daze, he lowered his face until his lips touched the top of your head.

As the sound of your breath hitching hit his ears, he immediately pulled away, a pretty pink rose blooming on his cheeks and creeping to the rest of his face; you were certain you were in a similar state, if not a little worse.

“Sorry! I’m not sure why, but I shouldn’t have done that,” he apologised sincerely, his eyes darting around and refusing to meet yours. “I should go…”

“Wait!” you exclaimed without hesitance, cringing a little at your own volume and tone. You didn’t sound too desperate, did you? You continued to look at him, hoping he would eventually meet your gaze.

“Um… it’s still raining pretty hard outside, you know,” you mumbled quietly, “it’d be better if you waited it out here.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

You shook your head. Uncomfortable? Tsumugi? You nearly let out a giggle at the very notion. “No, not at all. If anything, I’m always comfortable with you,” you admitted, “I’d be happy if you stayed over a little bit.”

Despite his still flushed state, he finally looked at you again, flecks of adoration present on his eyes. Your heart beat a little quicker— was it wrong to be a little hopeful? You recognised the look in his eyes, as if the sky itself had cleared up you realised that it wasn’t the first time you’ve seen him look at you that way.

You wondered if you were making that same look right now.

“Then if you’ll have me, I’ll stay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 【 acacia flower 】 friendship  
> 【 yellow acacias 】 concealed love


	3. kazunari | angelica flower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kazunari is a regular at the flower shop cafe reader works at, and he is in need of inspiration

The sound of the storefront door swinging open and a shout of your name indicated the arrival of your ~~favourite~~ regular customer.

“Heyho! You look cute today too _piko_ ☆” and if you weren’t already convinced, the cheeriness present as ever combined with his catchphrase solidified the man’s identity.

You turned around to greet him properly, somewhat surprised to find him standing alone. Weeks ago you would have been too timid to even talk to him outside of

“Kazunari-kun, you didn’t bring anyone with you today?” you asked, “it’s kinda weird seeing you alone.”

“Nyahaha! It just means I can spend more time talking to you one-on-one~♪” Kazunari said, a boisterous laugh escaping his mouth, a wider smile at the sight of reddening ears going unnoticed, before he answered you more seriously, “I have a sketch to do for class, but I keep getting distracted.”

You nodded understandingly. It was always hard for you to concentrate in a noisy place, so you understood his dilemma.

“Do wanna sit somewhere more secluded?” you pointed somewhere towards the back of the shop, “it’s usually where I stay when it’s not my shift, or if I’m, like, studying for class.”

“Woah! Special friendship perks?! Is _this_ what you get when you’re BFFs with someone from the _littest_ flower shop _slash_ cafe _slash_ totes aesthetic hang in Veludo?” he exclaimed, and you didn’t bother suppressing the laughter that he caused.

“I mean, technically _anyone_ could sit there?” you pointed out with a giggle, but you left your spot from behind the counter to usher him there. “If you wanna get cosy, I’ll show you the best place to sit,” you offered, smiling as Kazunari cheered excitedly, almost bouncing like a cute puppy.

You led him to a table with a comfy loveseat, positioned beside a window that probably would’ve brought a glare of sunlight to the interior if it wasn’t a little late in the afternoon already. Unsurprisingly, he dives onto the armchair immediately; his bag of what you’ve come to know contained art supplies following suit.

“Nice, right?”

“Uhhh, hell yeah!” Kazunari sunk a little deeper into the chair, about to continue talking until you heard the store door open.

“ _Big_ OOF, you better—“

“Yeah, oh gosh, I haven’t even gotten your order yet?” you said a little hastily, “you going for the daily special cake again? With the complementary—“

“Yep yep! You know my tastes so well _piko_ ☆” he said with a grin, before shooing you off, “now _go_! You don’t want the chef to come out and scold you again~♪”

You laughed as you quickly ran back to the counter to entertain your new customer’s order, watching from the corner of your eye as Kazunari brought out his art supplies. You silently wished him well.

* * *

Your shift was nearly ending, and as the sky dawned a palette of pastel pinks and purples, the business and idle chatter of the shop settled down. Save for the “Cafe Music! Jazz & Bossa Nova instrumental music” YouTube playlist in the background, all was quiet.

Well, save for the sound of pencils against rustling paper from the back.

Knowing he would be too focused to spare you a glance, you peeked at him from your spot by the counter. When Kazunari was in work mode, he gave off a totally different vibe— and while on normal circumstances you’d think this side of his was just as charming, something was off based on his furrowed brows and the barely noticeable frown on his face.

After a second thought, you opened a cabinet behind you and got a small jar of candies. You usually reserved them for yourself throughout the times you needed some sugar for energy, but you figured Kazunari needed some more than you at the moment.

You knew he liked candy, so if you couldn’t help him with his work you could at least support him somehow!

“Kazunari-kun, how are you?” you asked, situating yourself beside his chair. With a small groan, he angled his sketchbook to let you look at it properly.

While you haven’t seen a lot of Kazunari’s stuff, you knew he was amazingly talented in multiple art mediums— be it traditional or graphic or anything else in the spectrum. Looking at what he drew so far, you could say that the idea and technique were definitely there, but it was a little lacking save for the centre of the page.

Kazunari clearly knew it, too.

“I’m Gucci mostly, but I think something’s off?” The blond said, “like a missing detail to make it less plain? Idk tbh.”

You pouted. You didn’t know what to add either, so instead you proceeded with your plan and showed him the small jar of candy.

“Sorry, I don’t know what I’d add personally, but I just wanted to give you something to…” you trailed off until you could phrase the rest of your sentence in a logical manner, quickly giving up on that. “Haha, I guess I just wanted to support you somehow?”

“Eh? You remembered that I loved candy?!” Kazunari exclaimed, immediately perking back up from his minor slump. “You’re so cute~! High-key lit! No, totes the GOAT!” His hand touched yours, the jar still on your palm as he opened the lid.

He immediately went for the green one, and you nearly laughed at how similar it was to his eye colour. As soon as he popped it in his mouth, the same bright eyes widened at you.

“Yo, this tastes funky— but I’m kinda digging it?” he said, continuing to figure out the flavour, “what is this?”

“It’s called candied angelicas,” you said, “we got a delivery of angelica flowers a few days ago, and apparently you can make candies out of the stem?”

“Angelica flowers?” Kazunari repeated, reaching to get another piece of candy, “never heard of her. She could be walking down the street, I wouldn’t know a thing. Sorry to this flower.”

You giggled, reaching into the jar to get a piece yourself, “You dummy! Apparently they mean inspiration and encouragement, so it’d be nice flowers to give~”

The blond gasped, grabbing your shoulders and shaking you in excitement.

“Wait, that might just work!!!”

“What- _what’s_ gonna work?” you asked in confusion, watching him set down his art materials. He stood up so quickly you would wonder how he didn’t get whiplash if he didn’t immediately squeeze you in a tight hug.

_What?_

Though it had only been 5 seconds tops, him pulling away felt like minutes as he rewarded you with the brightest grin you’ve seen from him today.

“Ugh, you’re actually so??? The best??? I’m totally pumped up and inspired now!”

Well, maybe you didn’t have to understand right away. You were just glad you were able to help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 【 angelica flowers 】 inspiration, creativity, encouragement


	4. tsuzuru | light red carnation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reader teaches tsuzuru some flower language

The moment a hand grazed yours while pulling out the same book, it was difficult for your romance book, shoujo manga, fan fiction-addled brain to not equate the situation as a meet-cute happenstance.

Within seconds his hand flew away from the book, as did yours, as you turned to face each other. Oh, this stranger was kind of cute, actually.

“Sorry,” he said, just as your mouth was poised to apologise as well, “did you need this book, too?”

Well, considering you were literally about to take the book from the shelf, you couldn’t exactly lie to him just so he could borrow it.

“Ahaha, um, _yeah_ ,” you replied a little awkwardly. Even though you needed the book to check something, you’d feel awful if he left empty-handed. “You need it too, then?”

“Yeah, I need it as a reference for a script,” he said as he grabbed the from the shelf, looking at the cover briefly before offering it up to you, “but if you need it, I can always just—“

“What? No, no,” you shook your head in protest, “reasoning wise, you obviously need it more than me. I’ll just look at it some other time?” You lightly pushed the book back to him, but although his grip remained firm he didn’t drop the case.

“A reason is still a reason,” he insisted, “you were technically gonna get it first and I wasn’t looking properly.”

As you opened your mouth again, you realised that the two of you were going to be stuck at a back-and-forth if one of you didn’t let up. It seemed that the brunet realised it as well, as he let out a quiet laugh.

“Are you gonna need the whole thing?” he asked.

“Nope, just looking for specific articles other books don’t have.”

He nodded, turquoise-like eyes finally meeting yours, a look of finality present as he made you a proposition.

“Then what if we just shared the book?”

* * *

Minagi Tsuzuru, as he introduced himself to you earlier, was a fun person to talk to. Well, as much talk as you could have in a public library, but interesting nonetheless.

You had wondered why he wanted to borrow a book on flower language in the first place, and as soon as he told you he wanted to use flowers as a concept for his script, everything just fell into place.

Apparently, his dorm mate recommended a specific book to him with numerous flowers and specific details being boasted. Oddly enough, you wanted to look through that book for that very characteristic.

With newer flowers coming in the shop, you wanted to make sure you could advertise and arrange them appropriately.

Even still, you had gathered most of your info minutes ago, slightly lagging behind so you could keep talking to Tsuzuru.

“Could you recommend me some flowers that mean hatred? Or something similar?” he asked, occasionally flipping through the pages of the book as he continuously typed everything down on his laptop.

“I mean— there’s a lot! Like there’s aconite if you want a general flower itself, but if you wanna touch on colour, you can go with orange lilies or yellow carnations,” you suggested, watching his fingers pause atop the keyboard as he looked back at you.

“Huh, the colours might be fun to play with,” Tsuzuru said, looking a little thoughtful, “especially if you use one colour in most scenes then suddenly change its colour during a high point.”

You cast him a smile, nodding in agreement at the very thought. “Woah, that’d be so creative though?” you praised him, your excitement increasing in levels.

“Like I said, yellow carnations represent hatred, but also disappointment,” you stated, starting to list down the different colours and their meanings.

“White for purity or luck, hmmm…” you trailed off for a few seconds, making sure you were saying the right thing, “pink is a bit broad? Like it’s sort of about the undying love of a mom, but also gratitude, but also saying ‘I’ll never forget you’?”

Tsuzuru continued to listen intently, resting his cheek on the palm of his hand. As soon as his bright eyes met yours, you immediately darted your gaze away. Somehow his stare felt a little intense, the knowledge that he was hanging onto every word made you a little… nervous?

Were you talking too much? What if you said the wrong info because you totally forgot some very obvious details or switched them up or something?

He quietly called out your name, your shoulders tensing upward as he looked at you with visible concern. “Sorry, you spaced out. I’m not disturbing or distracting you or anything, right?”

Well, not in the way he assumed, at least.

“I’m good, don’t worry!” you reassured him, looking back at him to show your genuineness. “Aha, anyway! Forgot to mention red carnations— the shades of red have meaning, too. If it’s lighter, it means admiration, and if it’s darker, it’s a more… passionate? Deeper love.” you finish explaining.

“… is that so?” You don’t get to hear what Tsuzuru is muttering to himself, it coming off as a bunch of garbled nonsense from the distance you were at. Still, after a minute of mumbling and typing, he’s avidly thanking you.

“No problem! I’d love to see this show!” the corners of his lips etch upwards, a pleased expression on his features.

“I mean… you _could_?

* * *

Some weeks after exchanging contact details, you found yourself standing near a small, outdoor stage. Apparently the script and the play itself was an entry to a contest, and Tsuzuru and a few others were Mankai’s representatives.

You were excited to support and see the play in action! But right now, well…

“Tsuzuru-kun!” you called out, waving at the brunet who made his way towards you. You knew it was more customary to give flowers after a show, but eagerly, you showed him the white carnation you had hidden behind your back.

“For good luck,” you explained, handing him the flower. You watch his cheeks dot with pink, and with the silence you nearly kept talking to just fill up the silence.

He surprises you instead.

Tsuzuru shows the carnation he, funnily enough, hid behind his back as well. The more you stared, the more you found yourself flustered, and it wasn’t just because he ‘ _didn’t have to give you anything_ ’. It was the colour.

Light red.

“Tsuzuru-kun… you _know_ pink and light red are different, right?”

He only nodded, continuing to observe and gauge your reaction.

“Then you didn’t accidentally switch the pink and light red meanings, right? You know that pink is the one for gratitude, and light red is for—“

He barely stifled his laughter, “no, no, this was _all_ intentional.”

Who could blame you as your face bloomed a pretty shade of red, colour not too far from the carnation you held right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 【 carnation 】 fascination, new love  
> 【 light red carnation 】 admiration


	5. juza | pansy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reader teachers juza how different flower colours can mean different things

“Will you let him stay for a while?” Tsumugi asked you, your eyes immediately shifting to the tall, purple-haired man beside him. Though his expression was tough, he refused to even spare you a glance save for the when he first entered the store.

“Well…” you trailed off, still a little conflicted on what decision to make. On one hand, it was hard to refuse one of the flower shop’s regulars— especially when the explanation behind his sudden request reasonable enough. On the other hand, as nice as Juza probably was on the inside, if he was just going to stay silent the whole time it not only would be awkward, but there was a chance he’d scare some customers away.

As soon as the thought entered your head, you felt a little awful. He literally hasn’t said a word to you?

Making up your mind, you slowly nodded in response. “I don’t mind. He’ll just be observing the flowers, right? And looking at the reference book?”

“Yes, that’s pretty much it. Thank you for accepting,” Tsumugi turned to look at his junior, patting his arm lightly, “see you back home.”

“Thank you for your patronage, Tsukioka-san.”

“… see you, Tsumugi-san.”

As soon as the blue-haired man left the building, all was silent again.

What were you supposed to do? Would he appreciate you showing him round the store? Telling him about all the flowers? Do you ask him about what he needed to know for this role? Would he prefer to be left to his own devices and do it on his own?

When he suddenly called you by your name, well, surname, you’re caught off-guard. You turned to face him, and though he still can’t look you straight in the eyes, he at least knew you were listening.

“… sorry, I’ll try not to be a bother,” he says, frown still present but voice unexpectedly genuine, “…might scare your customers away, though.”

He didn’t sound sad about it, resigned if anything, but you found that you were kicking yourself anyway despite him not knowing what was going through your head a while ago. While you couldn’t comfort him or anything, there was at least something you could do to help him.

“Juza-kun,” you said, and for the first time, his eyes met yours. Perhaps if the two of you were to lock gazes at another place and time, you would have been intimidated; enclosed at the space of your flower shop, you somehow figured you’d end up enjoying his company.

“Would you like to see some flowers?”

* * *

**Sunday**.

“… don’t really get it,” Juza muttered, the pads of his fingers carefully brushing against the petals, “why I got chosen for this role.”

You paused your previous ministrations, setting aside your spray water bottle to look at him questioningly. By the manner Tsukioka-san explained Juza’s situation earlier, he made it seem as though the latter was enthusiastic to play this role— was he mistaken?

  
“What do you mean?” you asked, walking over to the same spot Juza stood. Neither of you faced the other, as though you two were talking to the vibrant colours instead.

“Flowers are delicate,” the petal slipped from his index, “I’m not,” he said matter-of-factly.

Neither of you could deny that.

“… maybe you’re focusing too much on thinking of flowers generally,” you replied, the silence consuming the both of you thereafter.

The two of you barely talked the rest of the day, the only other time the two of you glanced at each other was when he said his farewell.

 **Monday**.

Coming back from school for your shift at the shop, you didn’t expect to run into the purple-haired man on the way there.

“Juza-kun?” He stood quietly at a street corner, his stillness making you wonder how long he’d been there. Weren’t… weren’t people looking at him suspiciously? Did he notice? What was he doing?

He greeted you back, and you found yourself in an awkward stare-off with him for a few seconds. With a cough, he darted his eyes away from yours. “You weren’t at the shop,” he replied gruffly.

Oh, was he waiting for you?

You let out a little laugh as you asked him to follow you, failing to miss the small hint of surprise on Juza’s face as he walked behind you. The walk was quiet, but your mind was noisy with questions.

“Did you want to look at the flowers again?”

“… thought about what you said.”

You couldn’t react immediately, already stood at the storefront. Stepping into the shop, you greeted your co-worker and your companion quickly distanced himself, taking to the assortment of potted plants instead.

“Is that delinquent your boyfriend or something?” your co-worker whispered quietly, peeking behind you worriedly. You stopped in the middle of tying your work apron, narrowing your eyes.

“What?”

“He was standing outside a while ago,” she explained, “but he left pretty quickly. I thought he was being shady, but then he comes in with you?”

You sighed, rubbing your temples. Right, you didn’t get the chance to mention Tsukioka-san’s request from yesterday. You didn’t think you had to?

“He’s not my boyfriend,” you corrected, immediately shutting down whatever notion she had in her head, “Tsukioka-san asked me to help him with something.”

You almost giggled at how quickly she perked up at the familiar name. You bet he didn’t even realise how popular he was.

As you bid your adieus in advance, you exited the storage backroom and nearly yelped at the sight of Juza hunched over the counter, looking through the reference book.

“Are you looking for something specific?” you asked, leaning onto the counter to peer over the pages.

“… yesterday, you said I was being too general.”

You raised your eyebrows. Was he still thinking about that? “Guess I did, yeah.”

He flipped over another page, eyebrows furrowed as he skimmed through the content in front of him. You were sure he was trying his best to absorb the content, but you had a feeling it wasn’t working out as well as he had hoped.

You placed a hand over the book, and though you barely covered anything he got your intention pretty quickly.

“That’s going to take you forever,” you insisted, angling the book to face you instead as you flipped the pages over to the table of contents.

“What do you need for your characterisation, anyway?” from the corner of your eye, you could see the gears turning in his brain.

“Something happy,” he started, and you found yourself mentally listing down all the readily available flowers that fit into that meaning. Should be easy enough, there were many flowers that corresponded to happiness—

“Something calm,” he continued, and you found yourself turning around to look at him incredulously. “Something innocent.”

Was he gonna keep going?

“Something passionate, and something about new beginnings.”

“That’s a lot,” you stated the obvious, racking your brain for any flower that could possibly mean all of those. Maybe even a set of flowers from the same family? Happiness and innocence were often associated with each other anyway, and there were many flowers that meant passion anyway— though more on the love side of things. The other two, though…

“I’d need to look a bit more into that,” you apologised, eyes flitting from name to name to find a similar flower, “did Tsukioka-san say anything that could help?”

Juza let out a small hum, “he gave me a list.”

You thought he’d pull out his phone or something, so you couldn’t help the small laugh as he brought out a ripped out piece of notebook paper from his pocket. As soon as he handed it to you, you found yourself ticking off the flowers that wouldn’t work— whether it be obscurity or having a too vague meaning.

Lavender… Lily… Magnolia…

You stopped at the next flower listed. Oh, that could actually work?

“I think I have a reference for you,” you said. Unbeknownst to you, Juza subconsciously registered that as the first time you smiled at him.

 **Tuesday**.

Why weren’t you surprised he would be at the street corner?

“Juza-kun, just wait inside the store,” you told him, a little exasperated. You understood his intentions, but he didn’t have to keep waiting outside every time for your arrival? “What if I got back a little late?”

“S’fine,” he mumbled quietly, falling into step with you, “it was only for a few minutes.”

“Ouka High is a lot closer, though,” you reminded him, “at this rate you’re gonna end up as a landmark.”

The conversation fell short again, the background noise filling up your silence. The door chime rang as you opened the door, and you checked in with your co-worker while Juza found himself with the flowers again.

“Did the delivery—?”

“Yep, it came today! Aha, he’s actually looking at some of them right now?”

Thanking her, you headed over to him and stared at the vibrant pink.

“Gentleness,” you said, loud enough for Juza to hear you, “pastel pink pansies mean something along the lines of gentleness and innocence.”

With Juza’s head bowed down, you thought he himself looked a lot like a pansy— a flower that resembled the human face, intelligent and pensive, nodding forward late in the summer as though deep in thought. The colour of his hair didn’t help diminish your imagination, either. After minutes of silence, he finally spoke up again.

“Muku,” he muttered. You tilted your head in confusion.

“Muku?”

“… my cousin,” he explained, “is a lot like this flower.”

Maybe it was your imagination, but somehow he sounded, looked a little softer.

“You must be pretty fond of him,” even if he weren’t to reply, you knew you already had your answer.

 **Wednesday**.

You were running. Somehow you got distracted by the new cookies they were advertising at a cafe near your high school. Perhaps it was because of your ongoing situation with Juza, but as soon as you read the words “dessert” and “edible flowers” you made a bee-line for the store.

… and you ended up buying more than one, too. A whole pack of 6, actually. Really, who could blame you? The blue, pressed pansies atop the honey glazed lemon shortbread cookies looked absolutely scrumptious!

But now you were in a rush to get to work, and in your haste, you accidentally bumped into someone. You found yourself a little shocked as you looked up, familiar purple hair coming into vision.

“Oh, Juza-kun,” you greeted, “you’re actually not at the corner today?”

“Got dismissed late,” he said with a shrug, “you?”

You let out a chuckle, lifting the paper bag so he could see. “I bought some cookies after school. I thought the flowers on them were cute,” you explained, and for a split second, you swore Juza’s eyes widened slightly.

“… cookies?”

“Hm? Yeah. Do you like cookies?”

“… they’re fine,” he turned to face sideways, though that didn’t hide the pink blooming on his cheeks.

_Oh?_

“I’ll give you one later,” you said, doing your best to stifle the laugh that threatened to escape. How unexpected! That was kind of cute, actually. “We’re going to keep blocking the sidewalk at this rate, we should go.”

Somehow, the silence wasn’t so awkward this time, a little calming, even.

 **Thursday**.

That was weird. No sight of Juza on the way to the flower shop— was he running late? Would he not be coming today, after all? For some reason, the thought made you a little sad. Perhaps you were starting to enjoy his company, after all.

Your co-worker gave you a knowing glance as soon as you entered the building, and any confusion immediately dissipated as you saw your purple-haired… friend? (Did he consider you two as friends?) by the yellow pansies.

“Juza-kun!” you greeted with a smile, pleased to hear him say your name as he greeted you back. Even with just this much, you were glad to have crossed a new boundary with him.

You nearly ran over to him, only stopping midway as you heard quiet laughter. You turned to face your fellow florist, holding up your work apron.

Aha, _right_.

“ _I’m only doing this as a favour to Tsukioka-san,_ ” she mimicked as soon as you stepped in the backroom, “ _he’s not my boyfriend~_ ”

 _How_ was this woman older than you?

You groaned, trying to put on your apron as fast as possible before bolting out the door. “Byeeee,” you said, hiding from her line of sight as you rushed over to Juza.

“Hey,” you greeted again, alerting him of your presence, even though he probably already knew you were there beforehand.

“Haven’t seen this one yet,” he commented, eyes a little narrower as he looked at the bouquet of yellow blotch pansies. “You said they meant happiness, right?”

The corners of your lips turned upward. “Oh, you remembered!” you said in delight, if not a little proud, “yep! Happiness in general… but,” you trailed off, causing your companion to look at you with interest.

“Is there another meaning?”

You laughed a little awkwardly, not meeting his gaze while not exactly avoiding it either. “I mean, it’s more of a personal interpretation, so it’s not really important.”

You could still feel his eyes on you, making you feel a bit self-conscious. Aha, seriously, the atmosphere between the two of you was already good— what were you doing?

“… I do think your opinion is important, though.”

You coughed, looking at him with a mixture and disbelief. Surprisingly, he didn’t retract or back down from his statement at all, further amplifying your flustered feelings. He remained unbothered, almost as if he somehow didn’t realise your reaction?

“Um, well,” you began, “you know how there’s like a dark coloured blotch within the yellow follower?”

Juza hummed in response, letting you know that he was following.

“On one hand, I think it could mean pretending to be happy even though you’re in a dark place,” you explained, “but it could mean finding happiness even though you’re battling your inner demons…”

He doesn’t respond for what seems like minutes, and you have half the mind to quickly change the topic. Your interpretation was probably a bit of a reach, wasn’t it? Too edgy, perhaps?

“… that was good,” he said, “I liked what you said.”

Though his praise was simple, you found yourself beaming anyway. It… was nice to know that he appreciated what you said.

Before you could get another word in, you heard the door swing open. You should _probably_ attend to that.

You turned your back to Juza, about to walk away from him until you felt a tug on your arm. You stilled, wondering what could have possibly prompted the sudden contact.

“Juza-kun?” you asked quietly, voice unexpectedly shaky.

“… your apron is loose.”

“Oh! Thanks, I, uh, probably didn’t tie it properly,” you reasoned, your arms reaching back behind you to tie it, a somewhat futile attempt but an attempt nonetheless.

You failed to notice the cherry red blush on Juza’s face, to focused on trying to remove your own.

 **Friday**.

“So how many colours are there?”

“Way too many,” you answered, “like sometimes they come in one colour, sometimes two or three; sometimes pastel, bright, or dark— all of them probably have different meanings too.”

You propped your elbows on the counter, hands cupping your face. In the past few days, you were able to accompany Juza wherever in the shop, but Fridays tended to be more busy compared to the other weekdays, causing the need to be heedful for incoming customers.

“So even more colours to learn…” you laughed out loud. How seriously was he taking this? Just for one flower?

“I mean you only really need to stay until you have enough info to flesh out your character,” you pointed out.

He didn’t reply for a while, and you had nearly worried that something had happened back there, but Juza piped back in the conversation eventually.

“So red symbolises passion, right?”

“Yep!” you said, fingers idly playing with the loose thread of your apron, “though I supposed a lot of red flowers mean passion and love, huh.”

“… and the white pansies?”

“It can mean purity and spirituality,” you started to explain, “but some say that when you give it to someone, you’re telling them to give you a chance.”

The room fell silent once more, but over the course of a week you didn’t mind it anymore. It was a little comforting, actually, having someone around— not even to help you with the shop or anything, but just a friend to talk to.

As you were about to close the shop, Juza appeared in front of you.

“I think I have my character figured out now,” he told you, and you felt yourself swelling with happiness and accomplishment.

“That’s great! Our hard work finally pulled through!”

The tiny hint of loneliness that you felt got left unsaid.

“Sorry for bothering you all week.”

“Trust me, I wasn’t bothered at all!”

 **Saturday**.

“Huh, he’s not gonna be here today?” your co-worker asked as you arrived for your shift, “I legit thought you were joking about just helping him out of the goodness of your heart or whatever.”

You smiled a little sheepishly, “he already figured out what to do for his role. I’m sure he must be busy practising now, so I probably won’t see him around.”

You pretended to not see the look of sympathy thrown your way.

 **Sunday**.

Two weeks had passed since you last saw him, and you chided yourself for thinking that the shop felt a bit emptier lately. At what point did you get so fond of him?

Even now, on the way to the shop, you found yourself stopping at the street corner, as though he’d be there again and was just too shy to enter without you.

Seriously, just what were you doing? Friends could go a while without seeing each other, it wasn’t a big deal.

Or at least that was what you told yourself for a grand total of three minutes, because that all came crumbling down as you saw his familiar figure standing outside the flower shop.

“Juza-kun?”

You approached him with slow steps, briefly wondering if you just went through some next level hallucination, but the closer you got the more evident that he was the real thing.

“Umm, is there something you need?”

His eyes wouldn’t meet yours, not unlike the first couple of days you spent with him. “… here,” he unloaded the two things into your hands, one of which you recognised while the other was a mystery.

You checked the envelope first, a pleasant surprise greeting you.

“A play… _your_ play ticket?” you asked him, and he nodded as though to confirm your assumption.

“I remember you said you weren’t busy during that time and day, so…” with a gentle smile, you tucked the ticket back inside the envelope for safe-keeping.

“I’ll be there to support you, for sure.”

With the mystery item set aside, only the white paper bag with the flower logo was left. Somehow, even without opening it, you already knew what the contents would be.

“… they had other colours and flavours for the cookies,” he said as you took out the small box of 6, “the ones with the white pansies are vanilla and cinnamon flavoured, and the ones with the pink pansies are dark chocolate and raspberry flavoured.”

It took a while for you to comprehend the situation, still a little befuddled by him even appearing again until you realised what he was trying to say.

“White and pink pansies,” you said with a laugh, before ushering him back inside the shop.

You suddenly felt a lot less lonely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 【 pansy 】 admiration, remembrance   
> 【 pink pansies 】 gentle tenderness, innocence  
> 【 blue pansies 】 calmness, trustworthiness   
> 【 yellow pansies 】 happiness, bright disposition  
> 【 red pansies 】 passion, love  
> 【 white pansies 】 innocence, purity, “take a chance on me”


	6. banri | pink hyacinth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> flower shop part-timer banri and friendly competition between him and the reader

As the flower shop grew more popular, the more difficult it became for you and your boss to manage everything by yourselves. Even though it wasn’t the holiday season, the orders seemed to increase every week— plus, managing the till while making a last minute arrangement and simultaneously giving people flower recommendations? It was no easy feat, that was for sure.

“Let’s hire someone to work part-time alongside you,” your boss finally decided one day as she flipped through the accounting ledger book, “it’s not always the both of us will be at the store at the same time. We need the extra help.”

You hummed in reply, not thinking much of it at the time as you continued taking inventory. As long as they weren’t overly cold to you, you couldn’t foresee any problems. Well, except for maybe one, _little_ thing.

“My salary won’t be lowered, right?”

* * *

You were expecting the new hire to be the stereotypical soft, sweet, fluffy looking person of whom grandmas would be drawn to. Instead, he was a guy wearing a purple, leopard-cheetah-whatever animal print bucket hat with a luxury brand logo right smack in the centre.

Aha, it really put the _statement_ in the term _statement_ _piece_. It certainly gave him a lot of _impact_.

You wanted to do something in between laughing and crying, but your boss probably wouldn’t appreciate either one. With some restraint, you introduced yourself with a bright smile, handing him a work apron you hoped was his size.

“If you ever need any help, just let me know,” you offered, leading him to the staff room so he could store his belongings somewhere ~~and take off that dumb hat~~. “It might take you a while to get used to some things, but I’m sure you’ll get a hang of it soon!”

“I’m a quick study, don’t worry.”

There was something about the way he phrased it that made you intrigued. He said it in a pretty nonchalant manner, even his expression remained relaxed, but the moment your eyes met his you found yourself growing excited. There was a certain glint there that you recognised pretty quickly, and you had a feeling he did, too.

“I think we’ll get along well, Banri-kun,” you said, grinning in anticipation of the next few weeks. It would be an undeniably nice break from the usual routine work brought upon you.

There’s a visible upwards stretch on his lips, too, and though he replied to you with a “who knows?” something in your gut told you the feeling was already reciprocated.

* * *

Settsu Banri wasn’t lying one bit when he told you he learned things fast. On his first day he took the time to observe you first, watching you go about the different tasks for the day— from how and for how long you watered each plant, to how you went about choosing flowers to add to a bouquet, to how you interacted with the customers and how you subtly managed to convince them that yes, they did need that new and slightly pricey fertiliser.

The way he was able to pick up on the way you did things pretty quickly was something to be envied. Although he still lacked a lot of the stock knowledge and experience you had, he easily made up for it with his skill in… literally everything else.

He wondered what your reaction would be— would you be pissed? That wasn’t really his intention but he was pretty self-aware that some people found that annoying. Though he wasn’t overly concerned of what people thought of him in the first place, it wouldn’t sit right with him either if his co-worker on one of his first jobs didn’t like him.

You stood behind him, your critical eye peering at the way he arranged his flowers. Pink ranunculus and hyacinth, as well as some other filler flowers, laid out atop the worktable. With his choice of an off white Kraft paper, the assortment of pink decorative sheets, and the silver lace ribbon, it was clear that he was a natural— or at least he had a good eye for colour scheme.

“All this fit the customer’s price range, yeah?” he asked. Truly, he already knew the answer. It was easy to estimate the amount of wrapping needed for a bouquet of that size, and the price labels per material made things even easier. He even skimmed the flower language guide printed out to make sure his flower choices were optimal.

In fact, the real question he meant to ask wasn’t even whether it fit the budget or not.

Despite his confidence, he turned his head around if only to gauge your facial expression. You stood still in your spot for a few seconds; then you quietly moved from your station behind his back to beside him, your arm brushing against his as you took a closer look. He didn’t tense up from the contact, but he’s not completely numb to the sudden closeness, either.

Though he was planning on it already, his awareness of you definitely grew as he watched your reactions from the corner of his eye.

A normal person would’ve taken one look and end up deciding then and there if it was nice or not, but as he watched the narrow of your eyes and the way the pads of your fingers felt the texture of papers he knew not a single detail was going amiss with you.

He could respect that. There was something pretty admirable about someone completely dedicated to their craft.

“Yeah,” you replied, “right down to the choice of going for a thicker ribbon instead of something thinner. It’ll turn out pretty,”

As he was about to soak up your praise and reply in stride, you ended up surprising him as you followed up with another comment.

“Though I think your flower choice could be… _better_ ,” you commented coolly.

With an eyebrow raised, he couldn’t find it in himself to be offended at all— just plain curious in what you have to say.

“The customer asked for a non-rose bouquet to tell someone they’ve fallen for them because they’re so charming, so ranunculus and hyacinths best fit the criteria,” he explained, curious of how you’d critique his decision.

“The ranunculus _was_ a good choice, but lowkey makes the guy seem shallow?” you pointed out, a shrug soon following. “Also, I wouldn’t go for pink hyacinth— the bouquet ends up implying the guy’s just playing around with the girl. If you went with blue, it’d show that he’s sincere about his feelings.”

Banri let out a little exhale of breath, crossing his arms as he leaned against the table to look at you properly. “Sense, doubt whoever’s getting this is gonna go as hard analysing as you though.”

You rolled your eyes before mirroring his actions, “You never know with these things, but… maybe you’re just upset you didn’t make the perfect choice?”

He huffed, but a smirk rose to his face just as yours did. Were you challenging him? He can’t say he particularly hates it, not when he’s steadily growing more and more interested in you.

“And maybe you’re just paranoid I’ll catch up to your skill level quickly,” he teased, amused when you don’t back down from his provocation. He initially wasn’t serious about it, but if you were down— “I’m sure I can make you admit to my skills in a span of a week, maybe even tomorrow.”

“Oh I’m too nice for that, I’ll give you the rest of the week to make it easier on you,” you cooed playfully, before ultimately coming to a conclusion, “wanna bet?”

“With what?

Your eyes flitted away elsewhere, looking a little too pensive for such a trivial matter. “I mean, I’m broke, but just betting for the sake of pride is boring…” you trailed off, and Banri couldn’t help but helpfully supply his two cents.

“Don’t people in shows usually ask for a favour or some shit with these kinds of things?”

You stared at him blankly. “I… I get what you mean, but not gonna lie, using the word favour makes it sound wrong—“

“Oi oi,” Banri interrupted, “don’t make me out to be some kind of fuckboy.”

“Sorry, sorry,” you let out a laugh that was light, laced with a hum of amusement at the matter, “but like, we don’t have to decide on anything now? Let’s just go with the flow. I’m sure I’ll eventually think of the reward I’ll get~”

“ _That_ confident?”

You shrugged, “not really, just optimistic… _so_ , you game?”

* * *

Honestly, neither of you even set any rules or guidelines for your little competition; it was just a matter of you having fun competing with Banri over numerous things.

Who could convince more people to purchase gardening products they may or may not actually need were hesitating on buying (6-9 in Banri’s favour).

Who could recommend the better flowers (8-4 in your favour).

Who could compute and double check accounting and inventory faster (5-6, you told yourself you’re making it even today).

Who could create the better bouquet arrangement (somehow, a tie. Even with his fashion sense, he was pretty good at coordinating colours and patterns. You _did_ have to stop him from using two animal print papers in one go, though).

Occasionally your boss would walk in the two of you bantering and critiquing each other’s work. At first, you worried she’d tell off the both of you (or maybe just you, since you were technically Banri’s senior in terms of experience), but she deemed it as ‘productive noise’ and let the two of you continue, even chiming in with her own opinions from time to time.

With her encouragement, neither of you held back.

“ _Oh_ , you accidentally cut too much ribbon— what a waste,” and “you missed a row in your calculation. Let me show you,” were amongst the common statements you said to each other.

A work relationship that was neither vile nor overly friendly, teasing at very least and strangely productive at most. You were quite satisfied with this turnout, a good way to stave off the boredom work could bring, but life had other things in store for the two of you.

Beyond either of your expectations, your dynamic would soon enough evolve into something beyond little comments exchanged between one another and one-upping each other.

* * *

There were always hints that beneath both of your competitiveness, there was a lot of thoughtfulness as well. Helping each other out under the guise of “showing them how it’s done”, or “I can do it faster”. Neither of you ever expressed it out loud, but gratefulness didn’t have to be said to be known.

It became less about playfully competing and more about just enjoying each other’s company in your own way.

“ _Hahh_ … it’s finally over!” you exclaimed, plopping down on a chair as you began fanning yourself with the closest piece of paper you could pick up. Even in the air-conditioned room, you found yourself sweating, your body unused to the physical exertion normally not demanded of you during work. Even your co-worker seemed exhausted— if the grunting noise he made was to be taken as a telltale sign.

Banri strode over beside you, looking just as exasperated as you felt.

“What kind of dumbass—“

“—decides to buy a bunch of pots,” you continued, halting your fanning motions as your fingers began aching again, “in the evening? What the fuck would you do with 12 plant pots?”

“‘xactly? Shit, didn’t realise those clay pots were gonna be that heavy…” Banri said, your eyes immediately drawn to his fingers. Ahh, he did end up doing most of the heavy labour.

“We didn’t even have to charm anyone into buying things this time,” you commented, before moving to the real thing you wanted to ask about, “by the way… are your hands okay?”

“This much?” he put his palms up, “is nothing~ had a lot worse.”

You don’t say anything in reply, merely staring at the small blemishes newly formed. It was minimal, pretty much shallow scratches, but it was there.

“Y’worried, babe?”

It was a slip of the tongue on his part, but neither of you seemed to mind. It rolled off pretty smoothly, and if asked about it he could easily say it was just a joke between the two of you— a little ‘affection’ to show how close you’ve gotten as friends.

Well, he thought, it wouldn’t be that much of a lie.

“No, not really,” you replied, mind too carried away elsewhere to pay any mind to the new pet name, “but you should still put on a band-aid or something.”

“Already said I was fine,” Banri replied, his eyes following your sudden upright movement as you headed inside the staff room. As he took the initiative to finish cleaning up so you two could head out for the night, the sight of you coming back out empty-handed had him befuddled.

“What’d ya even do in there?”

“So apparently we don’t have any stocked up,” you explained, quickly doing one last glance at today’s revenue, “so let’s stop by the convenience store later to get some… seriously, what if one of us gets pricked by a plant or something?”

If he decided to be honest, he would’ve told you that he already had one in his bag. A certain mother hen had forced him, Taichi, and Hyodo to carry one around and he’d learned a long time ago to not resist Omi over trivial things.

Still… it _was_ pretty cute how you impulsively decided to go buy something because of him. There was no harm in hiding something to see this side of you more, right?

“Y’want me to come with?” he asked.

You turned around to give him a look. “Obviously? Then there’d be no point of buying it tonight rather than tomorrow.”

“Then take inventory faster… or do ya need my help for that, too?”

“Banri-kun~ you totally forgot to water the hyacinths, or do you need my help for that, too?”

Both of your comments are left hanging in the air, an, oddly enough, peaceful silence encompassing the room until,

“Might as well walk you home after this,” you turned around to face him in surprise, “it’s getting pretty late.”

“Already taking me home without even buying me dinner?”

“We’re going to the convenience store anyway, I’ll buy you something, whatever cold sandwich or fruit cup salad you want— my treat,” he joked, peals of laughter bursting from deep within as your eyebrows furrowed in incredulousness.

You rolled your eyes at him, but the smile on your lips betrayed your undeniable amusement. “Awww so sweet of you, but I can’t have you one-up me there. I’ll buy you the themed plasters— how does having hello kitty’s face around your fingers sound?” you retorted, easing yourself into laughter as well.

As the two of you walked along the sidewalk, side by side, you couldn’t help yourself from saying what’s been on your mind for the past week or so now.

“What we have is nice.”

Banri released a small huff, the corners of his lips stretching upwards. Even with its vagueness, the meaning rang clear.

“Yeah, I like what we have too.”

There was no need to rush into anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 【 hyacinth 】 games and sports, rashness  
> 【 pink hyacinth 】 play


	7. taichi | gloxinia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a cute surprise, and either reader is too observant or taichi isn’t as slick as he thinks

You couldn’t have predicted that within the five or so minutes you were gone, a surprise in the form of a flower awaited you.

For a short time frame, you had gotten up to scour the wooden shelves for a particular reference book you needed for your essay. It was relatively easy to find— though your school’s library didn’t have the biggest assemblage, the title was sought-after enough to have a few copies provided by the faculty. With little to no detour you immediately went back to the table you, and only you, occupied, only to become momentarily stupefied.

It was a bit of a sight to behold, not by its size but instead how it _misplaced_ it looked against its backdrop— a striking shade of purple against the white, lined papers your notes were hastily written on.

For quite some time, you inspected it as though it was a foreign entity; in truth, you recognised nearly every aspect of it. From the filler baby’s breath accenting the singular flower, to the white tissue papers wrapped the flower, to the dainty little ribbon with a flower shop’s name tying the whole thing up nicely.

Everything was familiar about it save for one thing— the addresser.

You pulled out what would surely be a hint to who sent it, a letter, maybe even a name that would designate the flower surely wasn’t for you.

Somehow, the sight of the pastel yellow paper made your cheeks flush more than the flower itself. Despite not having read anything yet, holding the heart-shaped origami envelope between your fingers made you realise that, yes, there was a pretty high chance that someone meant to give you these— that someone liked you enough to give you something with romantic intentions, albeit not in person.

As you unfolded the envelope, you couldn’t help the quiet giggle that left your system. Five words, as simple as they were, were enough to draw a smile upon your face as you found yourself rereading the slightly messy handwriting several times over.

> **_I like you a lot!_ **

Head shooting up, you scanned the room for anyone who could have possibly placed it there— if not him or her, at least an accomplice? To your disappointment, you doubted the people in the mostly vacant room had anything to do with it.

Doing your best to fold the paper back to its original design, you pondered what to do next— what would happen next. Was this just a one-time thing? Were they going to do something again? Would they actually confess to you?

Beyond giddiness over a potential admirer, it was hard not to feel curious over a guy who gifts you a flower from the very same flower shop you part-timed in.

* * *

As two weeks go by without a noise from them, you figured they had either planned that to be a one-time, doing this to move on thing, or perhaps that the whole thing was some elaborate, weird joke by someone in school.

It was pretty clear to you they didn’t want to be found, if you were to base it on the fact that they gave you no clues to their identity whatsoever, save for their handwriting and the fact that they knew some degree of origami. If they even made it themselves.

… well, technically you _could_ just ask your boss about the appearance or anything of who bought that particular bouquet but that didn’t seem very moral of a choice.

Honestly, you didn’t think you’d ever find out who gave it at this rate,

until you did.

Undeniably, the way you put two and two together was incredibly anti-climatic and all around simple.

“Taichi-kun, do you want to split the work? Like, me doing odd and you doing the even numbers?” he seemed to tense up the moment you talked to him, and you couldn’t help but wonder if you had said something wrong. Maybe he wasn’t that good with this particular topic? You couldn’t say it was your favourite lesson either, so maybe it would be better to just help each other out?

“Actually, we can answer it together too! We have the time,” you added quickly, looking at him to gauge his reaction. Without any time spared for you to worry, he seemed to instantaneously beam like the sun, a warm glow accompanying him, cheeks dusted with red, a few shades lighter than his hair.

“Yeah! Let’s work on it together!” his exclamation caught you off-guard— it was unusual for someone to act like an excitable puppy over a 20 item math pair-work worksheet of all things, but all the same it was quite adorable!

You pushed your desks together so the both of you could answer the paper properly, barely any side by side distance between the two of you save for the wooden chairs which you two sat on.

The realisation wasn’t gradual. Actually, it was rather immediate— perhaps you’d spent too much time staring at the 5 words he wrote down, but the moment he started writing both of your names on the paper you already knew it was him.

You’d be lying if you said the initial appeal of this, whatever this was, wasn’t the idea of someone liking you; now that you were 99% sure it was Taichi, however, the feeling of delight and thrill didn’t go away whatsoever.

He hardly knew you, you were sure of that much! You definitely barely knew anything about him, too, save for a few instances where you’d work together as a group or through unintentionally eavesdropping here and there.

… but while you couldn’t (immediately) reciprocate, you couldn’t deny wanting to get to know the guy who gave you a flower with that kind of meaning, whether he knew it or not.

“Taichi-kun, you’re good at origami, right?” you mentioned suddenly, not failing to notice how your seat mate seemed to perk up like a puppy’s ears would. Cute? Was he _always_ like this?

“W-wait, you _noticed_?!” as soon the words left his lips he began to fumble, trying and failing to take back his words before settling for just straight-up admitting to it. “Ehe, I think I am! If you request something, I can make it!”

His moment of confidence rendered a smile out of you, although… since he offered… _perhaps_ you could take the chance to do one last verification? You momentarily wanted him to make the litter heart envelope you’d been cherishing quite recently, but perhaps that was too simple.

“Can you do flower origami?”

“Yep! Tulips, lotus flowers, lilies, you name it!”

“Wahh, that’s cool! _How about—_ “ the moment the name of the flower left your lips, Taichi’s pen nearly fell from his fingers. His face had already gone as bright as his hair, but you couldn’t help but tease him, at least one last time.

“We had them at the flower shop I part-time in,” you could practically see the cogs in his head turning the more you talked, until he let out a noise with semblance of a whine and a gasp the moment the name of your workplace escaped your throat.

Though you weren’t the most confrontational or assertive of people, you really couldn’t help yourself— a little teasing side of you opened up from trying to match his vibes.

It was as though, despite the multiple sources of noise coming from all directions, your mind only focused on the two of you, and how else your relationship would continue from today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 【 gloxinia 】 love at first sight


	8. azuma | damask rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reader and their boyfriend, azuma, make perfume... and is also lowkey distracted by azuma but shhhh they're totally not slacking off, okay?

“Azuma, which one of these smell nicer?”

Atop the palm of your hand, two white petals of different varieties resided. He wasted no time plucking them from you one by one, drawing the delicate pads closer to his face as he caught a whiff of their scents. Expectedly, the manner of which his already lidded eyes drooped to a full close had more than just a semblance to the flowers that closed up at night. He was probably just closing his eyes to assemble his thoughts properly, but it was hard not to find the simple action gentle and graceful.

When his eyes opened again, his lips parted to let you know his thoughts.

“Go with the jasmine— it’ll work better with the peony than the magnolia,” Azuma said, taking hold of your hand once more as he gently returned the petals back to their original placements.

Oh, he was right!

“Honestly, I think you’re doing better at my job than _I_ am!” you joked, unfortunately having to look away from him to jot down the different plants you were planning to distill and extract oil from.

_First, the Base Notes— the scent that lingers the longest… perhaps something woodsy, like blond wood, maybe several drops of patchouli?_

“Fufufu~ I just enjoy perfume is all,” Azuma replied with a chuckle, “and I’m quite pleased your store decided to start selling perfume as well~”

_Next, the Middle Notes— the heart, the scent that makes itself known second. Jasmine, peony, maybe even water lily? To be decided later. 10-15 drops each._

“I’m glad you think so! We decided it was finally time to expand our horizons,” you explained, mulling over your options for Top Notes. They were what the customer would smell first, after all, and first impressions were incredibly important.

“It’s actually quite cheap to produce perfume, but the market pricing…” you trailed off, your mind going back to the task at hand. There were several fruits and leaves you could use for the Top Note, but what would match the rest of the components?

“It won’t be that interesting if you keep it purely floral. Maybe add tea leaves, or something like cranberry or lemon,” Azuma suddenly suggested.

Tea leaves to give it a fresh feeling, while the cranberry and lemon would give it a fruity scent… it’d work really well, actually, especially in this season.

You whipped your head around to meet his gaze, the upwards quirk of your lips matching with his own.

“Honestly, I’m so glad you visited me during work today,” you said, not failing to miss the way his eyes crinkled slightly. “Your opinions really helped me, as in I would’ve been stuck here choosing between two flowers for 20 minutes if it wasn’t for you.”

“I just wanted to see _my_ _lover_ hard at work, is all.”

You had expected him to chuckle in response, but instead his voice turns just a tad sultrier, a change quite small but _just_ enough for you to pick up on, then he hits you with that “my lover” like… how was that fair to you at all? First and foremost, of _all_ the terms you could use for a significant other he really just _had_ to go with lover? Second— it was only three in the afternoon…

“Azuma,” honestly, you weren’t sure if you were going to attempt scolding him, or if you were just going to whine, or if you were going to try responding in kind. Luckily, your boyfriend decided to save you from making that decision by yourself.

“And I’m happy you let me make my own perfume, too,” he said, interrupting your current train of thought, “I’ve never tried it before, but it’s been fun so far~”

You looked at his side of the table. Since he was already making something instead of merely conceptualising, he had minimal choices for the scents— the tiny bottles of essential oils you’ve distilled from beforehand being his only choices.

Dragging your seat next to his, you began resting your head against his shoulder as soon as you plopped down on the chair to observe him. It’s not like you were slacking off or anything, you were just… gaining inspiration.

Hahaha, definitely.

“I can smell roses,” you said, the smell strong enough that you wouldn’t need to put it too close to your face, “it’s a bit different from cabbage roses… so these are damask then, right?”

He hummed, and you quietly watched him as he carefully put drops of bergamot into the spray bottle, making sure he’d put the correct amount only.

One, two, three… you counted in your head alongside every press his fingers made on the pipette’s rubber bulb, admiring his precision to somehow have exactly one drop of oil come out with each press.

On the eight count, he asked you a question, breaking the sudden quietude the two of you took part in.

“Do you have a name yet for your perfume?”

Normally people named their creations _after_ its creation, right?

That didn’t stop you from pondering on the possibilities.

As you thought of ideas, you found yourself observing Azuma (as if you ever looked away from him in the first place) as he rationed how many tablespoons of vodka to add to the perfume. Without meaning to, your eyes went from watching him work to his silky hair, silvery hue not unlike the snow that kisses the land and blankets it during winter time;

the name “Snow Prince” flickered in your mind, and with a faint blush that rivalled the champagne pink of Azuma’s perfume bottle you pushed the thought away.

The scent was clearly leaning towards being a spring or summer day perfume, so wouldn’t a name like “snow prince” be incredibly misleading? Not to mention, this would probably be targeted towards women so having “prince” in the title would be weird, right?

It was becoming clear to you that having him in your workplace in all of his beauty, even piping in with his own opinions and helping you conceptualise, was oh so distracting. It was hard not to think of Azuma though, especially with you still resting against his shoulder.

You still can’t believe your first thought was to name a perfume after him though!

“Oh? It looks like a rose just bloomed beside me,” his comment only worsens your embarrassment, and before he could question why you were suddenly so flustered you steered the direction of the conversation elsewhere.

“W-what about you? Do you have a name for your perfume?”

He swivelled on his seat to face you, and you’re unable to read his facial expression as he quickly lowered his lips, now beside your ear.

Without warning his voice drops to a sultry whisper, the only word coming out of his throat being _your name_.

As soon as you realised what he meant, your brain could only handle so much before it began malfunctioning. As overused devices had a tendency to do, you found yourself heating up. Though you averted your eyes from the man, you knew he was watching his effect on you— most likely the reddening of your cheeks.

His soft but mischievous laughter did nothing to quell your current feelings.

“What should I do with you? Should I just _admire_ you from afar? Should I _pluck_ you from your garden? Or should I be a good gardener and make you _nice and wet?_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 【 rose 】 love and passion, trust and unity  
> 【 damask rose 】 beauty and love. formally known as Rosa × damascena (a type of hybrid rose commonly used in perfumery).
> 
> also, the perfume reader was conceptualising is based on Givenchy’s Ange ou Demon Le Secret (2009) and while vague, i based azuma’s perfume on Chloe’s Roses de Chloe, which is said to have a delicate, graceful, and subtle scent.


	9. sakyo | black tulip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tulips, and also animal crossing... mostly animal crossing.

Friday nights tended to be hellish— not because it was a Friday, far from it, but because of two simple reasons. First and foremost, the exhaustion of Monday to Thursday completely piled up into one giant baggage of stress that weighed and wore you down. Second, Friday tended to the busiest of all the weekdays, what with the increased number of date nights and any other occasion.

Speaking of date night…

As you made yourself more comfortable on the sofa, you found yourself staring at the blond man beside you. One of his hands possessed a wine glass, an aged Rioja wine with the aroma of red cherries and dried herbs— you knew that its partial priciness made him rarely bring it out;

on the other hand, a black, Nintendo switch joy con. Specifically, _your_ switch controller, but at some point the two of you ended up sharing the console (mostly him not wanting to buy his own).

You set aside your own drink and scoot closer to him, hoping he’d give you attention if you pout or whine for a long enough time.

“Sakyo, I regret forcing you to play this game.”

You stared at the television screen, his character looking eerily peaceful as he watered some red tulips right next to a custom design path with blood on it.

“You’re just mad half of your island is my territory now,” Sakyo said, pausing to take a sip from glass before he continued, “and that I’m richer than you.”

“You only have more bells than me because you’re a capitalist,” you closed your eyes, leaning your head against his shoulder, “and I’m a communist. How could we ever share this island properly?” you sighed, feigning exasperation even though the both of you knew neither of you was being serious. If anything, you came to enjoy seeing moments where Sakyo could just sit back and have fun.

You knew he never got many moments to enjoy playing video games, and while you have introduced him to some with premises similar to his line of work (works, if you include that one actor training game you made him play), it was unexpected to have him enjoy such a… soft game.

… but of course, he still decided to play by strategising how to get rich quick in 5 simple steps, and also making his side of the town have a Japanese theme and Yakuza setting vibe as opposed to your gothic aesthetic, but that was beside the point.

“Why do you need more black tulips, though?” upon hearing your question he turned to face you, and in the few seconds of simply staring at each other you wondered if he would actually tell you or just leave you hanging like that.

“Didn’t you say you wanted a dark tulip crown?”

You were a little puzzled at that. The two of you literally had a shared garden in the middle of your respective spots, filled with black, red, and violet flowers of any possible variety— although perhaps taking flowers from there would ruin the design you and Sakyo conceptualised and argued on for nearly an hour.

… okay, yeah, makes sense why Sakyo would rather grow 5 new flowers.

Without words, Sakyo went back to having his little character run around the island doing mundane chores in dark sunglasses and a black suit. Instead of continuing to watch the screen, you stared at him instead.

Tomorrow was Saturday, and Saturdays meant some semblance of a date— be it lunch outside or a nice dinner together, but today was Friday and Fridays meant rest for the both of you.

For at least a little while, you were content just leaning against him as you observed his face soften up as the stress lines disappeared.

“You don’t know subtlety, do you,” Sakyo sighed, using his free hand to rub his temples, “with all your staring.”

His character stops moving, and you find your eyes dropping to the fingers still poised atop the controller.

The silver band on a particular finger gleamed at you, and you couldn’t prevent the grin that rose to your face, just as bright and shiny as its pair on your own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 【 tulip 】 perfect, deep love  
> 【 black tulip 】 power and strength.
> 
> this anthology is just a game of me trying to insert being a florist or even just flowers as creatively as possible


	10. omi | lavender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reader taste tests chef!omi's latest dish... yes, he's a chef in this one

There was something about the man who worked at the cafe across your flower shop, and you couldn’t figure out what it was.

Have you formally met Fushimi Omi? _Sure_ , you had to have when you constantly drop by to deliver herbs and flowers in several mornings a week. Have you crossed paths with him? _Sure_ , the close proximity of your workplaces certainly helped, with short waves of greeting exchanged upon making eye-contact with each other.

But did you _know_ him? No, which was why you couldn’t figure out why he stood out so much in comparison to his other co-workers, or literally anyone else on the same block as you.

What did you know about him? Well, he was attractive, a good cook, and seemed to have a friendly or kind disposition despite his stature and build. You couldn’t really form a conclusion just out of those select things though, right?

However, there was no easy way for you to figure it out without either stalking him, which was a definite no, or talking to him outside of a business transaction— not that you had much opportunities for that.

Which was why it still surprised you that he was ushering you to enter the establishment on the day it was supposed to be closed, a bunch of freshly cut lavender that he ordered held to your chest.

You had expected just to be paid, the small chit chat about how your respective businesses are going already a routine while you waited for the opportune time to return to your own shop;

as seemed to be a theme tonight, Omi surprised you again.

“These would be lovely for a new dish I’m working on,” he began, and you were inclined to agree. Despite never having tasted any of his flower series dishes, the pastries and meals you had in the past were sublime.

Which was why it was a relatively easy choice to make when he asked, “would you like to be my taste tester? Since you’re the one who grew these, anyway.”

“I’d love to! I’m, sure it’d taste great,” you said, a little bit of eagerness slipping through your voice. The corners of his lips quirked upwards, before he turned around and started walking away from you. As though sensing your stillness, he looked back at you with the same smile present on his features.

“The kitchen is this way?” His head tilted slightly, “unless you’d rather wait here by yourself?”

You didn’t think he’d mean he’d cook for you now, but since you already committed to it…

“Nope, nope! I’m coming right now.”

You quickened your pace for a few seconds, just enough to lag behind him and keep up with his long strides.

Before attending to the counters with prepped ingredients already prepared, he ushered you to a chair and table that was most likely brought in temporarily, clearly not matching the kitchen’s interior. Had he planned having you taste test beforehand? Was that why he had you deliver the flowers at an unusual time and date?

The answers seemed glaringly obvious, but you’d rather keep quiet and watch him mix flour, cinnamon, sugar, lavender, and whatever other ingredients rather than awkwardly ask and risk being too assuming.

Even while passing the time scrolling through your phone, it was undeniable… sure it was impolite to stare, but was it really fair to have this man look so attractive? Like holy hell, he’s literally just pouring a mixture over something you weren’t even sure of in a skillet?

The silence wasn’t as awkward as you predicted it would be, but you wondered if you should take the initiative to… talk? Maybe ask him something? For months you had stayed as acquaintances, stayed curious, but now that you two were alone and in the same space you couldn’t figure out what to say.

You glanced at him again, his back turned to you as he piled used kitchenware on the sink, the both of you waiting for the dessert to finish baking. Since he didn’t seem to be busy, you wouldn’t be interrupting him, right?

You took a few seconds to rake your brain for the best way to phrase the second most generic question about careers ™ (the most generic being asking what his career was, but that was plenty obvious) before opening your mouth.

“You’ve b—“

“How long have you been working in this cafe?”

Your eyes widened at the realisation, Omi’s chuckles coming soon after both reassuring and further adding to your embarrassment.

“I was just going to ask the same question, actually,” he said thoughtfully, looking a little amused as he abandoned the pans and pots to simply lean against the counter as he conversed with you. “Two years, you?”

“I’ve been part-timing at flower shops for a while now, but I’ve only been managing this one for a year.”

It’s impossible to miss the change in his face muscles, and though you couldn’t detect what specifically rendered it, it was a pleasant enough expression that you quickly welcomed it.

“I don’t know that much about flowers or arrangements, but everything I’ve seen you sell has been beautiful. It’s clear that you have a talent for what you do,” the brunet commented, “plus, the herbs you deliver are always so fresh and emit a nice aroma. I always get excited to use them in dishes.

With the combination of being under his warm gaze and his words, you suddenly found yourself feeling bashful, regardless of the fact that he complimented your plants more than you. The only way you could respond was to thank him and return the compliment, telling him you were eagerly awaiting tonight’s dish.

And when the time finally came for you to taste it?

Golden brown peach crisps served family style with a scoop of ice cream on top, garnished with lavender. The seasonal fruit mixed with a pinch of cinnamon, a faint hint of lavender, and melted vanilla bean ice cream made the fruity dessert taste like the blue sky with honey oozing on top.

You always knew Omi was a good chef, but to think of combining peach and lavender… you nearly laughed, but the soft chuckling that came from the person beside you caught your attention instead.

As nice as the sound was, you couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious— what did you say or do this time? All you were doing was eating the dish quietly… hold on, was the food meant for just you to eat or…?

“Fushimi-san, do you… do you want some?” It felt a little silly, offering a man the very same food he prepared, but it seemed your concern was unwarranted as he shook his head.

“Don’t mind me, watching your face is enough for me,” he didn’t seem to notice the peach blush that began to blossom on your cheeks, continuing “your face looks so peaceful while eating, like you’re really savouring it.”

“Can I ask you to taste test again next time?”

There was something about the man who worked at the cafe across your flower shop, and maybe you’ll stick around a little longer to figure out what it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 【 lavender 】 silence, serenity, grace, calmness, purity
> 
> honestly, i just came across a recipe for peach and lavender crisps by accident and decided "huh, i think it'd taste good... i can use this in a fic"


	11. kazunari | baby blue eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reader and kazunari go on a date to a public park

The travel blog said that Hitachi Seaside Park was a spacious public park famous for its large flower fields. Apparently, it was must visit date spot for couples, a great area to take aesthetic photos for social media, and a boiling pot of inspiration for artists. There was even an amusement park nearby!

With all those buzz words floating around and the overwhelmingly positive reactions online, it was no wonder Kazunari wanted to go there with you next.

It was like they ticked off everything he was looking for— good photos for the blam, including cute couple pictures with you, some nice reference photos for some nature sketches, and last but definitely not the least, some time together with you.

University and theatre made it more difficult to find the time to have dates in farther places, a bit of a bummer for someone like Kazu who enjoyed travelling, so while this was no 3 days 2 nights vacation stay, it was still special to the both of you.

When the two of you finally arrived at your destination, you found yourself speechless at the sight. The paragraphs you read describing the field couldn’t fully capture the beauty of how the sheer number of flowers created an almost never-ending sea of blue that flowed seamlessly into the blue Springtime sky.

You crouched on the ground, levelling yourself with the steel barriers to take a closer look. If you stretched out your hand to the ground and felt the baby blue petals, could you feel the sky on your fingertips?

… when they called this event “Nemophila Harmony”, they seemed to really mean the harmony part, the blue blooms giving you a dilemma of whether to enjoy the moment for a few more moments, or to take a picture so it would last longer.

Speaking of, it seemed even Kazunari was taken aback. You would have expected him to go off about how “Instablammable” and “totes aesthetic” everything was, and then snap a bunch of pictures on his phone. Instead, he hadn’t uttered a word to you in the past… two, three minutes?

What face could Kazu be making right now?

Curious about his reaction, you tilted your head towards his direction while still squatting down.

‘Oh, so he did have his phone out,’ you immediately thought, noting the slight movement of his thumb that indicated he just took a picture, but upon further inspection it became clear to you that the angle was all wrong for the flowers to be the main focus.

If it was summer rather than spring, you would’ve been able to blame the brand new flush you adorned on the sun, only heating up further as you watched him not-so-subtly take another photo.

“Kazu!” you pouted, knowing that while you couldn’t chide him for something he’d done a multitude of times in the past, you could at least whine about the specifics. “At least warn me so I can look good in the shot!”

“Nyahahaha!”

He threw his head back, erupting into peals of laughter. There was probably something about being scolded by someone crouched on the ground like a petulant child stuck in a tantrum.

“Ehh~ but is it _really_ a candid shot if I warn you~?” the blond pointed out, both his arms now rested by his sides so he could look at you properly.

“ _Besides_ , you looked _totes adorbs_ as usual, babe~♪ no cap!” as he spoke, the grin on his face began widening further, “Especially when you finally faced the cam and turned all red! How are you such a cutie uwu~”

You finally stood up from your position, arms crossed as you asked Kazu if he still had any more pictures to take in this spot. Everything aside, there was still heaps left of the park to go through— both the rest of the nemophila as well as the other gardens.

Kazunari hummed, looking deep in thought before replying, “we _have_ to take a pic together by the flowers, obvs!”

Well that much was a gi—

“The flowers, plus my hair, plus your face… we’re the primary colours!”

His _astute_ observation finally did it for you, your shoulders shaking at the thought of how that thought even came to fruition. Well, who were you to deny your boyfriend?

**…**

“Three, two, one… _yoropiko_ ☆”

“Yoropiko!” you cheered after, and as the timer went off you watched the look of satisfaction grow on Kazunari’s face as he began writing a caption for the post.

“Blue circle emoji… yellow circle emoji… red circle emoji…”

“You’re exaggerating the red! I’m not even blushing anymore!” You insisted, looking scandalised at a set of shape emojis of all things. Still, you weren’t going to back down! “And your hair isn’t even yellow-yellow!”

“Aye, ayt, I’ll keep it a hush hush joke between us~” he raised his free hand up in surrender, before lowering it again and linking it with yours, “so let’s continue the rest of our date, shall we~?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 【 blue flowers 】 in general, stands for desire, love, hope, the beauty of things. it was a symbol of inspiration during the romanticism movement.  
> 【 baby blue eyes 】 victory and success.  
> 【 nemophila 】 the scientific name. comes from the greek words “nemos” (wooden pasture, small forest) and “phileo” (to love).
> 
> i straight up didn't even mention a flower shop or being a florist this time oops haha


	12. masumi | purple lilac (shine a little love)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> basically masumi working up to a confession

It was strange.  _ He _ was being strange, or at least that was what he thought of himself. Even with his headphones positioned atop his head, blasting one of his favourite songs in the playlist, he found it difficult to block out his thoughts. Specifically, his thoughts of you.

> _ You shine a little love on my life _
> 
> _ You shine a little love on my life _
> 
> _ You shine a little love on my life _
> 
> _ And let me see _

Masumi was surprised by himself. When it came to Izumi, he had always been vocal about his adoration for her, romantic or otherwise. Previously, he had little to no issue with bombing her with (ultimately pushed aside) proposals, (not taken seriously) confessions, (failed attempts to give her) gifts on days that weren’t even special occasions;

yet he couldn’t so much as speak up on his growing affection for you. 

Having approached him for the pure intention of wanting to be friends, with enough persistence it wasn’t very difficult for you to worm into his heart, different from the rest in the sense that it was something beyond the friendship he’d slowly come to know during his stay in the dorms. 

_ “Family, then?” _ when he expressed those feelings to you some months ago, you quickly turned away from him, gaze avoidant as you closed your eyes. It was a befuddling reaction, but it seemed like you were just taking your time to think before coming to a conclusion.

_ “Family…” _ he repeated those words to you, testing out how it sounded but more importantly, testing out the idea of  _ family _ with  _ you _ in the equation.

_ “Yeah, like siblings or something… oh, nevermind! Guess I won’t be calling you onii-chan~ any time soon.” _

He must have cringed visibly, because you were quick to laugh it off and bounce back with a different topic ready at the tip of your tongue. 

Family and siblings were an entirely different thing.

Masumi hoped you didn’t take it the wrong way, that you took it as him not liking you enough to be on the same level as the Spring troupe or even the other actors in Mankai Company… he wouldn’t spend so much time talking to you otherwise, but there was no way in hell he could see you in the same light as Sakuya or Tsuzuru, or heaven forbid Chikage or Sakyo. Gross. Just imagining himself being all affectionate with the latter two makes him sick in the stomach.

> _ Remember, tonight _
> 
> _ We're gonna say, we'll never stop _
> 
> _ We got a good thing going on _

Hours after that conversation and finally, in the comfort of his room, he pressed his face against his pillow, finally coming to the realization that he was thrust upon a familiar situation once again, similar and yet all the more scarier.

Masumi wasn’t the type of person to joke around or play with someone’s feelings, you knew that well. The moment he finally articulated into words how he felt for you, then everything would change.

Would you feel the same? Yes or no?

He didn’t want to ruin anything.

So he lets the months pass by and though he remains mostly quiet about it, his actions speak differently. He neither wanted to just sit quietly and wait for his feelings to go away (they weren’t any time soon, by the way things were looking), nor was he about to wait for you to make the first move (you didn’t look like you had any plans to). The nosier guys in the dorm quickly found out and tried to help him, but he’d this time… he’d rather just do things his way.

Making you a playlist of songs he thought you’d like, offering to help you pick out new earphones after you broke your old ones, late night calls and messages. 

It wasn’t like there was no pay off either.

Everything he’d do, you’d respond in kind.

A day after he sent you his playlist, you quickly followed up with one of your own, a playlist of songs that  _ made you think of him _ , apparently, and with your words alone you rendered a blush out of him, not that you were physically there to see it. However, his roommate looked far too amused for his liking. 

Then you wanted to test your new earphones by sharing the two pieces between yourselves, and though he was more of a headphones guy there was  _ something _ heart fluttering about the distance (or lack thereof) between the two of you, shoulders pressed together as you listened to the same song (coincidentally, a song from the playlist he made for you).

And on the nights that he chose to stay up with Tsuzuru as the latter wrote the night away, you’d be there a call away, keeping him company for as long as you could before eventually falling asleep. Your steady and quiet breaths, a telltale sign of your slumber, warming his heart as he lingered for a few more seconds before ending the call.

Even if you somehow got the hint and tried reciprocating, as Muku and Kazunari so often insist, nothing would be official until one of you said something.

> _ I know you've heard it all before _
> 
> _ But I really need you, darling _
> 
> _ Every day, I need you more _

“Do you know about flower language, Masumi-kun?” Tsumugi asked him, on the way home after doing street acts together all afternoon. 

He was being pretty sus. Normally Izumi would decide for them, but Tsumugi had specifically requested for the two of them to be a pair under the guise of having a specific idea for an improv, which while interesting wasn’t exactly groundbreaking. 

“Only a little bit.” 

Tsumugi hummed in response, and the younger boy couldn’t help but wonder what the Winter troupe leader was up to. 

“Not everyone expresses their feelings the same way. Flowers are a good example– it’s indirect and subtle at first glance, but the gesture and meaning of whatever you choose make your feelings clear as day.”

Though his nonchalant tone implied otherwise, wasn’t his small talk actually a disguise for something else? 

He’d been pretty doubtful of the “confession techniques” suggested to him by the others, from a poem (he’d rather just straight up confess) to a kabedon (wouldn’t that just confuse you?) to getting down on one knee and– (a proposal?);

Coming from Tsumugi, however, the suggestion didn’t seem that bad. Actually, you might like it– he didn’t doubt that you’d at least appreciate both the aesthetic and thought put behind the present.

“What if they don’t get it?” although the blue-haired man’s smile remained perfectly serene, but something hidden within his eyes spoke volumes about his true intentions.

“Then you either, A, explain out loud and confess, B, tell them to look up the flowers online, or C, mix some red roses within the bouquet. Nothing’s more obvious than red roses.” 

Tsumugi’s pace slowed to a stop, looking somewhere thoughtfully. Even without glancing back, the flowery scent quickly invaded his senses. Taking this route home… even this much was planned, then?

“Masumi-kun, is it okay if we take a look here before going home?”

> _ Can you understand (yes, I understand) _
> 
> _ Can you feel it's right _
> 
> _ (I know it is) Will you be the same _
> 
> _ (I'll do it all again) _

When he presents you the bouquet he’s chosen, you make the same expression you did all those months ago, shut eyes and head turned sideways. The only striking difference being the red patched across your face, matching one of the flowers in the bundle of 12.

The sight gives him more confidence, squashing some of his nervousness and giving him the courage to keep talking.

“The meaning of the red roses should be obvious, but you said you liked purple so I added lilacs to the bouquet, too… I thought you’d find them pretty. Do you like it?”

You peeked at him first, before focusing your gaze on the red and purple ensemble as you stumbled to say yes.  _ Cute… _ if you keep acting this cute, he’ll just buy you flowers every day, then. Anything to get you this flustered again.

> _ You shine a little love on my life _
> 
> _ You shine a little love on my life _
> 
> _ You shine a little love on my life _
> 
> _ And let me see _

“Then, do you like me back?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 【 purple lilac 】 represent the beginning of love or a first love, and are a perfect gift for new couples


End file.
